Researchers have discovered how acids on the surface of bacteria give these microscopic organisms their characteristic "rod" shape—by keeping an enzyme at bay that would otherwise turn the cylindrical ...

Bacteria come in a wide variety of shapes, which are important for their fitness in their respective ecological niches. However, despite intensive research, the factors that determine the shape of ...

An international team of scientists have used advanced microscopy to image how ribosomes recruit to mRNA. Within a cell, DNA carries the genetic code for building proteins. To build proteins, the cell ...

One of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet is closer than you think - right inside your mouth. Your mouth is a thriving ecosystem of more than 500 different species of bacteria living in ...

A Harvard-led breakthrough may have brought one of medicine's more futuristic ideas much closer to reality: using living ...